ISRO reached yet another milestone. From its splendid journey
of transporting the rockets on the bullock carts to reaching the stars, the
persistence, dedication, and commitment of scientists has transformed the
organization into an epitome of excellence. ISRO today scripted history by
sending 104 satellites into space in a single go. On January 4th
2017, ISRO announced that India will launch 104 satellites in one go at the
Indian Science Congress held at Tirupati. Since then there has been a palpable
excitement among the scientific community. ISRO had steadily climbed the ladder
of competitive global markets of small satellite launching with an incredible
consistency and economy. It is now reckoned as an iconic leader in commercial
satellite launches. ISRO last year launched 20 satellites in one go. Russian rocket launcher Dpner, a transformed
inter-continental ballistic missile by launching a maximum of 39 satellites
into space in a single launch in June 2014 created a record. NASA in 2013
launched 29 satellites. With Tuesday’s launch ISRO aims to surpass the earlier
records. ISRO with its upcoming launch aims to display India’s satellite
launching prowess.
PSLV- C37, the heaviest of all the PSLV series of rocket
launchers lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), SHAR,
Sriharikota on Feb 15th at 9:28 carrying 104 satellites. Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which has already earned a distinct reputation
for its reliability and accuracy was specially designed to carry all these
satellites. PSLV the formidable work-horse of ISRO in its XL configuration was
assigned with the task of delivering the payloads.
PSLV-C37 weighing 320 ton and 44.4 m tall is a four-staged
rocket launcher. On its thirty-ninth flight, 103 co-passengers accompanied the
primary satellite Cartosat-2 series. Cartosat-2 with a work life of 5 years,
weighing 714kg is an earth observation satellite like other four satellites in
its series. This was injected into 505 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit and will
soon resume its remote sensing services using its panchromatic and multispectral
cameras. These images are used for cartographic applications and for monitoring
road networks, water distribution and land use. It was designed to monitor
activities across India’s hostile borders. The other two Indian satellites are
the ISRO nano satellites- INS 1A and INS 1B. They are designed for scientific
experimentation. INS 1A, with six-month mission life, weighing 8.4kg has two
pay loads - Surface Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function Radiometer
and Single Event Upset Monitor. INS 1B, with six-month life cycle, weighs 9.7
kg and carries two pays - Earth Exosphere Lyman Alpha Analyzer and Origami
Camera.
Of the remaining 101 satellites- 96 are from US, others are
from Kazakhstan, Israel, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and UAE. The total weight of all satellites on board
PSLV-C37 is 1378 kg. Satellites from US
are mostly DOVE Flock-3P (designed and operated by Planet Inc) fleet of remote
sensing satellites designed to earth every day for commercial, environmental,
and humanitarian purposes and LEMUR satellites of Spire Global Inc are meant
for weather measurements and tracking vessels using Automatic Identification
System (AIS). The average weight of DOVE and LEMUR satellites is around 4.7 kg.
Satellites from other countries are basically for technology demonstration and
weigh less than 4.5 kg.
Though ISRO has convincingly demonstrated its impeccable
scientific mettle earlier by sending 20 satellites simultaneously, the latest
feat is five times more challenging. Science enthusiasts are increasingly
curious as how ISRO will carry out this exceedingly excruciating task of
putting 100 odd satellites into different orbits with precision. Dr. K. Sivan,
director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre explained that “the satellites
will be separated from the launch vehicle in different directions. The
separation angle and time of separation will be such that one satellite will
not collide with another”. He pondered that each satellite separated from launch
vehicle will have a relative velocity of one meter per second. So, the distance
between satellite and vehicle after 1000 seconds will be 1000 meters. “The
satellite that gets launched first will move at relatively faster velocity than
the next satellite that is launched. Due to different relative velocities, the
distance between the satellites will increase continuously but the orbit will
be the same”. Thus, a degree of difference in separation angle together with
relative velocity would ensure that no two satellites would ever collide.
Further care would be taken for the orbital disturbances to die before
preparing the satellite for separation. Moreover, “satellites will be injected
into orbit at different locations at different angles, at different times and
different orientations”. In less than 600 seconds, all satellites travelling at
velocity of 27,000km per hour will be released into space. This scientific
spectacle would thus be internationally judged for its immaculate execution.
ISRO’s resilient journey marred by several debacles over the
decades had steadily acclaimed scientific reputation due to the phenomenal
success rate of the trusted work-horse PSLV. India’s rapid march towards space
exploration with its projects Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan has placed India
among the elite group of technologically advanced countries. Satellite
launching industry is growing at a tremendous pace. As of now there are few
reliable players in the market. India till now has launched 122 satellites of
which 79 are of foreign payloads. From 2011 till August 2016, the commercial
wing of ISRO, Antrix Corporation made a profit of Rs 896 crores. ISRO at
present is carrying out 5-6 launches and plans to increase launches to 18 to
substantially increase its revenue. ISRO’s current launch slated for Feb 15th,
if successful will greatly boost its position in the global satellite launching
market.
ISRO is all now gearing up for much bolder space missions.
Accordingly, government has increased fund allocation to Department of Space by
26% making provisions for Mars Orbiter Mission-II and Mission to Venus. France
has expressed willingness to collaborate with ISRO for the second Mars mission
slated for 2021-22. NASA is willing to partner with ISRO in India’s maiden
voyage to Venus, the planet named after Goddess of love and beauty.
@ Copyrights reserved.
